Album review: Danny Gokey's 'My Best Days'

Despite finishing third on the eighth installment of ‘American Idol,’ Danny Gokey opted to take his time before releasing his debut album. Now nearly a year since being eliminated from the competition, Gokey re-enters the musical ring with the Mark Bright-produced ‘My Best Days.’

Leading off the disc’s first single, “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me,” Gokey sets the tone for a more or less traditional country collection of tunes. The up-tempo track penned by Marv Green and Kent Blazy embodies a positive message about looking forward to life’s windy road, which fits perfectly on country radio between offerings from the likes of the Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley.

On “Like That’s a Bad Thing,” Gokey does a good job throwing his hat into the country/rock arena. “Get Away” is another up-tempo track bursting with energy that benefits the most by Gokey’s powerful vocals.

“I Still Believe” is probably the best bet for single no. 2, as it features relevant lyrics (“never saw a man walk on water / never met a man who walked on water / but I still believe”) and it is very catchy. Think modern country at its finest. Another ballad, “Tiny Life,” is steel guitar-clad and builds at the bridge to an impressive finale. It is probably the album’s best track, as it carries with it a moving message and is very radio-friendly.

Like a lot of the songs found on ‘My Best Days,’ “It’s Only” has a nice message threaded into its lyrics and the gentle instrumentation is ear-pleasing, but it comes off sounding like a rip-off of something Carrie Underwood would put out.

Despite getting off to a good start on the album, there are also a few bumps. “Life On Ya” is a little corny and sounds too similar to “My Best Days,” but it sounds like something Gokey would have fun performing live. “Crazy Not to” is boringly sweet, and is really only a filler track. Nothing more, nothing less.

And the album’s weakest song comes on its ninth track, as “Be Somebody” doesn’t really make sense and is composed of various clichés. This makes it hard to figure out why it was included in the final track list.

Gokey closes out ‘My Best Days’ with the heartfelt ballad “I Will Not Say Goodbye,” a tribute of sorts to his deceased wife Sophia. It’s a little reminiscent of previous country hits like Lonestar’s “I’m Already There,” but its without a doubt the most sincere offering on the whole disc.

In summary, Danny Gokey puts up an honest effort and actually gives viewers a surprisingly strong country effort, especially for a debut. If he surrounds himself with the right people in the industry, he could be looking at a long career and may in fact be the second-biggest country act to come out of ‘Idol.’

Danny Gokey's My Best Days will be released on Tues., March 2, and is now available to pre-order at Amazon.com for $8.98 and iTunes for $7.99.